The abortion issue and the race for governor

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison supports allowing women to make a choice about abortion until the unborn child is viable outside the womb. But she also supports states’ ability to impose restrictions such as parental consent for minors.

She has voted for enough abortion restrictions and similar measures to give her strong rating with the National Right to Life Committee — by her campaign’s calculations, a 94 percent “lifetime rating.”

By all accounts, her announcement tour across Texas has been short on talk about the abortion issue.

But when I asked about the issue today, her campaign said she addressed it this way in Tyler yesterday: “I am a conservative, I have a conservative voting record that I will match against anyone. I have a 94% rating on the right to life and pro-life. I think it is very important that we have great reverence for life.”

Her senior communications adviser, Jennifer Baker, added, “There is not a single piece of pro life legislation that has been passed by the Texas legislature that Kay Bailey Hutchison would not have signed. Kay Bailey Hutchison has a solid pro-life voting record in the United States Senate. She has consistently voted to ensure that federal funds are never used to fund abortions.”